At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul

[ChronoGrl]

Last night I watched At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul for the first time. This is my very first Coffin Joe movie (thank you very much to MissMacabre for streaming it - Everyone join Wednesdays at 9:00PM EST here!).


I was a bit confused in regards to the ending, so I would like to kick off this discussion with SPOILERS.



Re: The ending of At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (SPOILERS BELOW):

I'm convinced that at the ending, Coffin Joe got his "Christian" comeuppance (i.e. Not only was he evil by killing people, but he denounced God and spirituality too). So the concept is that being "free" of God also makes him "free" of consequence, correct? So the end is "God" striking back?

Simply stated, that's how I read it... Did I misread? Jenn's BF made the point about how it wasn't actually "God" that came after him; it was his own guilt. I actually LIKE that a lot better, but I didn't see it; I didn't see how it was "actually" his guilt driving him to kill himself vs. him getting struck down by spirits...

Then again... Maybe it was supposed to be ambiguous?

What am I missing? I honestly really love and respect directors who are outspoken about anti-religion, and from what Jenn was saying apparently he's one of them... But I just didn't see it; The Atheist dies in the end. How is that anti-religious? Which makes me wonder, why was the film banned? I realize that I'm seeing it out of context, but still curious...

[missmacabre]

I think it wasn't necescarily Christianity getting it's revenge on a guy who ate meat on Good Friday. In the scene with the fortune teller the group is warned not to mess with spirituality in general. Joe being an athiest seems to mock all of it, ghost spirits, and mostly Christianity. So if you're looking at it from spiritual point of view, it's not strictly Christ who's being wronged.

I have to agree with you though. The lady he raped cursed him. Then the fortune teller later explains that Satan will come at midnight and take his soul. I don't know a whole lot about religion but I think Satan is mostly a Christian belief. If you sin you will go to hell, etc etc.

[ChronoGrl]

Isn't "Good Friday" a Christian thing as well? (I was raised Atheist so this sort of thing escapes me sometimes).

I definitely see what you mean, though - I was just thinking about the last scene in the tomb, how prominent those crosses are... He crosses a rather large illuminated one on the wall right before looking at the caskets and realizing it's the people that he killed... Seems to me that he is literally "crossing" God...

[neverending]

I think the criticism of Catholicism specifically and Christianity in general were very much intentional. Brazil is a heavily Catholic country and Marins had to deal with that daily. Some of the sins he commits are specifically aimed at the Catholic Church- like the eating of meat on Friday. The next thing he does is covet his neighbor's wife (well, they're not married- but engaged. The intent is clear). Next he gambles. He's boastful- the sin of pride. He attempts to commit adultry. He murders his wife... he breaks nearly every commandment. I think Marins was deliberately trying to offend the Catholic sensibilities of his community.

[missmacabre]

Yeah a lot of his dislike of the Catholic church was pointed out in the documentary I watched. Let me see if I can find the link for it anywhere.

But he does make it very apparent, so it's confusing to have the movie end and it look like the guy who broke every commandment died and went to hell and justice was served. Even though I know there is a sequel, just as a one shot Midnight looks like a cautionary tale.

[missmacabre]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXjWsGorPts Here's the first part of the documentary and the other parts are on the right.

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by missmacabre

Yeah a lot of his dislike of the Catholic church was pointed out in the documentary I watched. Let me see if I can find the link for it anywhere.

But he does make it very apparent, so it's confusing to have the movie end and it look like the guy who broke every commandment died and went to hell and justice was served. Even though I know there is a sequel, just as a one shot Midnight looks like a cautionary tale.

See that's where I am - It's DEFINITELY apparent that he's working up being a sinner against all Commandants (thanks NE for stringing it together for me how it's hitting all Deadly Sins - Didn't click; makes it all the more brilliant honestly).

So it seems more like a Cautionary Tale that he gets mowed down in the end (good term, MM - That's what I was looking for), as opposed to an anti-religion statement.

Then again, I was thinking about this: He spends more time reveling in breaking the Commandments then he does in the consequence... So the emphasis is more of the anti-religion and the "consequence" is more to satiate what would be an incredibly religious and offended audience, you know? It's anti-religion that's veiled in a Cautionary Tale I wonder... But the bigger point is to get the anti-religious actions on screen...

Originally Posted by missmacabre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXjWsGorPts Here's the first part of the documentary and the other parts are on the right.

Cool - Will check it out when I have a chance. Thanks!

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

Jenn's BF made the point about how it wasn't actually "God" that came after him; it was his own guilt. I actually LIKE that a lot better, but I didn't see it; I didn't see how it was "actually" his guilt driving him to kill himself vs. him getting struck down by spirits...

I'm with Jen's boyfriend on this; guilt. Remember this is a horror film and, genre-wise, little else. Jose Mojica Marins is thoroughly a horror filmmaker, and I've always felt that the end of At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul has more to do with guilt and a kind of simple existentialism, but seen through the lens of a strictly-horror filmmaker. Coffin Joe's worldviews are seemingly absolute. It appears they cannot be shaken, until his own doubts and guilt come back to literally haunt him; the doubts and guilt abstracted and placed in a horror context. Sure it's depicted as something supernatural, but that doesn't mean it has to be spiritual. I feel Marins meant it more as a warning against how hatred, anger, selfishness, materialism (i.e. "Coffin Joe" behavior) can ultimately destroy a person- a very human and worldly warning, not a Christian one.

How did you like the movie, Chrono?

[neverending]

I was actually about to bring in an existential viewpoint- but with a different conclusion. Coffin Joe is a great example of existential man- he believes in nothing more than himself. He tells people he does not believe in spirits. He clearly considers himself a moral man-when he comes across the man & boy he tells the man to stop abusing his son. He also tells the boy to stop crying and act like a man.

To an existential man there is nothing beyond person existance, and there is nothing greater than living according to his own code. When his victims come back - at God's bidding? - he doesn't capitulate. They kill him... but is that a victory? Coffin Joe never renounces his beliefs. Even in death he has remained true to himself- he has won.

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by neverending

I was actually about to bring in an existential viewpoint- but with a different conclusion. Coffin Joe is a great example of existential man- he believes in nothing more than himself. He tells people he does not believe in spirits. He clearly considers himself a moral man-when he comes across the man & boy he tells the man to stop abusing his son. He also tells the boy to stop crying and act like a man.

To an existential man there is nothing beyond person existance, and there is nothing greater than living according to his own code. When his victims come back - at God's bidding? - he doesn't capitulate. They kill him... but is that a victory? Coffin Joe never renounces his beliefs. Even in death he has remained true to himself- he has won.

Very excellent, NE. I really like this idea too.
And to further the point in the context of the Coffin Joe series: he keeps coming back again and again and again, each time unchanged.

Go, go Coffin Joe.

I always loved the fact that in Brazil, Coffin Joe was so recognized as a character of general nastiness that parents would scold their children, "Be good. Don't be a Coffin Joe!"